Method for saving an image from a camera application of a portable electronic device

ABSTRACT

An image is saved to a contact record or set as a home screen directly from a camera application of a portable electronic device. The method includes: capturing an image using a camera that is integrated into the portable electronic device, selecting at least a portion of the image, selecting a contact record from an address book application or selecting a set as home screen option.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to portable electronic devices havingcameras, in particular, a method for saving an image from a cameraapplication of a portable electronic device.

BACKGROUND

As technology advances, electronic devices continue to become smallerand include more features. Today, electronic devices often includephone, email, media player and camera capabilities. For the most part,these features are integrated to provide a user-friendly interface whenperforming tasks that involve more than one feature. For example, a useris able to make a phone call or send an email by accessing a contactfrom a single address book. Similarly, the user is able to take and senda picture to a contact directly without performing an intermediate stepof saving the picture on the device.

Although there is a great deal of integration between the differentfeatures of the electronic device, there are still areas where the useris required to navigate between different features and perform multiplesteps in order to complete a simple operation. Integration of the camerawith the other features of the device is one area, in particular, whereefficiency and friendliness of the user interface could be improved.

It is therefore desirable to provide seamless integration between thecamera and at least one other feature in an electronic device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments will be better understood with reference to thefollowing Figures in which like numerals denote like parts and in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of components of a portable electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing a method for saving an image capturedusing a camera of the portable electronic device of FIGS. 1 and 2 in anaddress book application.

FIGS. 4-8 are screen shots depicting the method of FIG. 3;

FIG. 9 is a screen shot of a contact record;

FIG. 10 is another flowchart showing the method for saving an imagecaptured using a camera of the portable electronic device of FIGS. 1 and2 in an address book application;

FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing a method for saving an image capturedusing a camera of the portable electronic device of FIGS. 1 and 2 as ahome screen;

FIGS. 12-15 are screen shots depicting the method of FIG. 11; and

FIG. 16 is another flowchart showing a method for saving an imagecaptured using a camera of the portable electronic device of FIGS. 1 and2 as a home screen.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

According to one aspect there is provided a method for saving an imagein an address book application of a portable electronic device, themethod including: capturing an image using a camera, the camera beingintegrated into the portable electronic device; selecting at least aportion of the image; selecting a contact name to be associated with theimage from a list of contact names, each of the contact namescorresponding to a contact record that is stored in the address bookapplication; and saving the image in the contact record of the addressbook application.

According to another aspect there is provided a portable electronicdevice for saving an image in an address book application of theportable electronic device, the portable electronic device including: acamera for capturing an image, the camera being integrated into theportable electronic device; a camera application executable by aprocessor; a selection device for selecting at least a portion of theimage and subsequently selecting a contact name to be associated withthe image from a list of contact names, each of the contact namescorresponding to a contact record that is stored in the address bookapplication; wherein selection of the contact name associated with theimage saves the image in the contact record.

By integrating the address book application and the camera, an image canbe saved directly onto a contact record without requiring intermediatesteps. Eliminating the intermediate steps including: saving the image onthe device, retrieving the image and setting the image as the contactimage makes the process more efficient and saves a significant amount oftime for the user. In addition, by including the feature on the maincamera menu, users are able to access it easily rather than having tonavigate through multiple menus to find the feature.

According to another aspect there is provided a method for storing animage on a portable electronic device, the method including: capturingan image using a camera, the camera being integrated into the portableelectronic device; selecting at least a portion of the image; saving theat least a portion of the image on the portable electronic device;identifying the at least a portion of the image as a new home screenimage, the new home screen image replacing an existing home screenimage; and displaying the new home screen image on the home screen ofthe portable electronic device.

According to yet another aspect there is provided a portable electronicdevice including: a camera for capturing an image, the camera beingintegrated into the portable electronic device; a camera applicationexecutable by a processor; a selection device for selecting at least aportion of the image; a processor for storing the at least a portion ofthe image on the portable electronic device, the at least a portion ofthe image being identified as a new home screen image and overwriting aprevious home screen image; and a display for displaying the new homescreen image.

Integrating the home screen setting function and the camera allows usersto save a captured image as the new home screen image directly from thecamera application without requiring intermediate steps. By includingthe feature on the main camera menu, users are able to access it easilyrather than having to navigate through multiple menus to find thefeature.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a communication system 10 for a portableelectronic device 12 is generally shown. The portable electronic device12 is operable to effect voice and data communications over a radiocommunications channel and communicates with a base station (not shown)while located within a coverage area that is defined by the basestation. The base station is part of a wireless network that is incommunication with the Internet 14. Data is delivered to the portableelectronic device 12 via wireless transmission from the base station.Similarly, data is sent from the portable electronic device 12 viawireless transmission to the base station. A server 18 handles wirelessclient requests from the portable electronic device 12. A firewall, orproxy server, 16, is provided between the server 18 and the Internet 14.

It will be appreciated that the portable electronic device 12 is movablewithin the coverage area and can be moved to coverage areas defined byother base stations. Further, as will be understood by one skilled inthe art, wireless networks include GSM/GPRS, CDPD, TDMA, iDEN, Mobitex,DataTAC networks, EDGE, EVDO or UMTS and broadband networks such asBluetooth and variants of 802.11.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a block diagram of certain components,including internal components within the portable electronic device 12,is shown. The portable electronic device 12 is based on a microcomputerthat includes a microprocessor 38 connected to a random access memory(RAM) unit 40 and a persistent storage device, which in the presentembodiment is a flash memory 42 that is responsible for variousnon-volatile storage functions of the portable electronic device 12.Operating system software 20 executable by the microprocessor 38 isstored in the flash memory 42. It will be appreciated, however, that theoperating system software 20 can be stored in other types of memory suchas read-only memory (ROM). In the present embodiment, softwareapplications 22 including Personal Information Manager (PIM)applications are stored in the persistent storage device 42 forexecution by the microprocessor 38 for carrying out various functions.The microprocessor 38 receives input from various input devicesincluding the trackball 30, the escape key 32, the keypad 34, and thecamera hardware 44 and outputs to various output devices including theLCD display 24, the speaker 26 and the LED indicator 28.

As indicated above, the flash memory 42 stores a plurality ofapplications executable by the microprocessor 38 that enable theportable electronic device 12 to perform certain operations includingthe communication operations referred to above. Applications software isprovided including, for example, PIM applications such as an emailapplication, an address book application, a calendar application, acamera application and a tasks application, as well as otherapplications such as a Web browser application, an options applicationand a profiles application. The camera software is a Java applicationthat interfaces with the camera hardware 44.

In a data communication mode, a received signal such as a text messageor Web page download is processed by the communications subsystem 46 andinput to the microprocessor 38 for further processing of the receivedsignal for output to the LCD display 24. A user of the portableelectronic device 12 can also compose data items within a softwareapplication such as an e-mail messaging application using the keypad 34,for example, in conjunction with the trackball 30 and the LCD display24. Such composed items can then be transmitted over the communicationsnetwork through the communications subsystem 46 and antenna 48.

A method for saving an image in an address book application of aportable electronic device 12 is generally shown in FIG. 3. The methodis implemented by the portable electronic device 12 and will bedescribed with reference FIGS. 4 through 9, which are screen shots ofthe display 46. The method is described using a trackball 30 as aselection device, however, it will be appreciated that other inputdevices may alternatively be used. For example, a pen device ortrackwheel in combination with input keys may alternatively be used.

In order to enter a camera mode, which is shown in FIG. 4, a user clicksa convenience key 50 that is provided on the right side of the device 12and is shown in FIG. 1 to launch a camera application. Alternatively,the user may highlight and click a camera mode icon from a main menu(not shown). Once the device 12 is operating in camera mode, the user isable to capture an image 54 by clicking the convenience key 50 or usingthe trackball 30 to select a camera icon 52 that is provided on thedisplay 24.

At step 102, the user captures an image 54 and has the option to selectfrom several icons that correspond to camera functions: a trash can icon56, an envelope icon 58, a folder icon 60 and a crop icon 62. Selectionof the trash can icon 56 deletes the image 54, selection of the envelopeicon 58 emails the image 54 to a specified email address and selectionof the folder icon 60 saves the image 54. When the folder icon 60 isselected, the user is able to rename the image by editing the filenamein an editable filename bar 62 using the keypad 34.

The user selects the crop icon 64, as indicated at step 104, and isprompted to select a “Set As Caller ID” option 66, as shown in FIG. 5.At this stage, a “Set As Home Screen” option 68, which sets the image 54as the user's home screen, is also available to the user.

The user selects the “Set As Caller ID” option 66 from menu 70, asindicated at step 106, and a “Set As Caller ID” window appears on thedisplay 46, as shown in FIG. 6. A crop area 72, which covers a portionof the image 54, is shown in the “Set As Caller ID” window. The croparea 72 is defined by a rectangle 73 and portions of the image 54 thatare located outside of the crop area 72 are grayed out. The shape of thecrop area 72 corresponds to a caller ID image shape, which is defined bythe address book application. The caller ID image shape is set based onthe format required by the dialing/receiving display on the portableelectronic device 12. It will be appreciated by a person skilled in theart that the crop area 72 is not limited to being rectangular. The croparea 72 could be square, oval or any other two dimensional shape.

The crop area 72 is movable horizontally on the display 46 to allow forselection of a portion of the image 54. Panning the crop area 72 in theleft and right directions using the trackball 30 allows the user tocentre the crop area 72 on a subject that is off-centre, for example.

At step 108, the user has the option to modify the image 54. Clickingthe trackball 30 from the “Set As Caller ID” window launches the cropmenu 74, which is shown in FIG. 7. The user may select a “Zoom” option76, which zooms in or out on the image 54, a “Rotate” option 78, whichrotates the image 54 ninety degrees in a clockwise direction, or a “FullMenu” option 80, which expands the crop menu 74 to include additionaloptions. The additional options include: “Zoom All”, which resizes theimage on the screen to fit the screen, “Zoom 1:1”, which resizes theimage on the screen to actual resolution size (ie. the camera capturesan image having 1280×1024 resolution and the screen resolution is240×260), “Show Original”, which resets any changes made and returns theuser to the “Set As Caller ID” window of FIG. 6. The user may alsoselect a “Cancel” option, which allows the user to exit the “Set AsCaller ID” option 66, without saving changes. When the image 54 has beenzoomed, the pan function is selectable to move the image in the left,right, up and down directions.

By using any or all of the pan, zoom and rotate options, the user maymanipulate the image 54 to create a cropped image that appears asdesired. Once image has been modified and the user is satisfied with theappearance of the cropped image, the user clicks a “Crop and Save”option 82. Alternatively, the user may click the “Cancel” option andsave the changes made, which has the same effect as selecting the “Cropand Save” option 82.

Clicking the “Crop and Save” option 82 launches a list of contact names84, as shown in FIG. 8. Each contact name 86 corresponds to a contactrecord 88 that is stored in the address book application on the portableelectronic device 12. The user scrolls through the list 84 and selectsthe contact name 86 that is to be associated with the cropped image, asindicated at step 110. Once the contact name 86 has been selected, thecropped image is saved in the corresponding contact record 88 and theuser is returned to the main camera window of FIG. 4, as indicated atstep 112. In the example of FIG. 8, “Office Supply House” is highlightedindicating that this contact name has been selected. By clicking thetrackball 30 after highlighting the selected contact name, the croppedimage is saved in the contact record 88 for “Office Supply House”. The“Office Supply House” contact record 88 with the saved cropped image isshown in FIG. 9.

In some cases, a previously saved image may be stored on the contactrecord 86. The previously saved image could be a cropped image capturedusing the “Set As Caller ID” option 66 or the image could have beensaved on the record from another source, such as an imported file, forexample. If the device 12 detects that a previously saved image isstored in the contact record, the device will prompt the user to eitheroverwrite the existing image with the newly captured image or cancel the“Set As Caller ID” request.

FIGS. 4 to 9 show the method for saving a camera-captured image in theportable electronic device address book application from theuser-interface point of view. With reference to FIG. 10, the method willnow be described with reference to the components of the portableelectronic device 12.

At step 102, the user captures the image 54 using the camera hardware44. The image 54 is then displayed on the display 46 and thecorresponding image file is stored in cache memory on the device 12, asindicated as step 114. At step 116, image modification options areenabled in response to the user selecting the “Set As Caller ID” option66. Using the keypad 34 and/or trackball 30, the user navigates throughthe options of the camera application to modify the image 54, asdesired. The image file is saved following each step of the modificationprocess, as indicated at step 118. In order to conserve memoryresources, the single image file that is stored in cache memory iscontinually overwritten. When image modification is complete, themicroprocessor 38 launches the address book application in response toselection of the “Crop and Save” option 82 by the user, as indicated atstep 120. Following user selection of a contact name 84, themicroprocessor 38 saves the image file that is currently stored in cachememory in address book application storage on the corresponding contactrecord 86, as indicated at step 122. The image file is then cleared fromthe cache memory.

Referring to FIG. 11, a method for saving an image as a home screen of aportable electronic device 12 is generally shown. The method isimplemented by the portable electronic device 12 and will be describedwith reference FIGS. 12 through 15, which are screen shots of thedisplay 46. The method is described using a trackball 30 as a selectiondevice, however, it will be appreciated that other input devices mayalternatively be used. For example, a pen device or trackwheel incombination with input keys may alternatively be used.

At step 124, the user captures an image 54 and selects the crop icon 64,as indicated at step 126. The user is then prompted to select the “SetAs Caller ID” option 66 or a “Set As Home Screen” option 68, as shown inFIG. 12. At step 128, the user selects the “Set As Home Screen” option68.

At step 130, the user is able to modify the image 54 by performing zoomand rotation operations, which have been described in relation to the“Set As Caller ID” option 66. Image modification options that areavailable are shown in menu 148, which is shown in FIG. 9, and menu 150,which is shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. Menu 150 is accessed by selecting a“full menu” option 152 from menu 149. Once the image 54 has beenmodified as desired, the user saves the image 54 by selecting a “Set AsHome Screen Image” option 154 from the menu 148, 150, as indicated atstep 132. When the user exits the camera application, the image 54appears as a home screen image on the portable electronic device 12, asindicated at step 134.

With reference to FIG. 16, the method for saving an image as a homescreen of a portable electronic device 12 will now be described withreference to the components of the portable electronic device 12.

At step 136, the user captures the image 54 using the camera hardware44. The image 54 is then displayed on the display 46 and thecorresponding image file is stored in cache memory on the device 12, asindicated as step 138. At step 140, image modification options areenabled in response to the user selecting the “Set As Home Screen Image”option 68. Using the keypad 34 and/or trackball 30, the user navigatesthrough the options of the camera application to modify the image 54, asdesired. The image file is saved following each step of the modificationprocess, as indicated at step 142. In order to conserve memoryresources, the single image file that is stored in cache memory iscontinually overwritten. When image modification is complete, themicroprocessor 38 saves the image on the device 12 in response toselection of the “Set As Home Screen Image” option 154 by the user, asindicated at step 144. The image is then displayed on the home screen ofthe device 12 when the user exits the camera application and the imagefile is cleared from the cache memory.

It will be appreciated that the zoom function is linked to the camerasoftware and may be set to zoom in or out to any level. Further, theresolution of the image is dependent on the type of camera that isincluded in the device 12. The appearance of the image on the device isdependent on the resolution of the LCD display 46.

In another embodiment, the “Rotate” option 78 allows for free rotationof the image 54 so that the user is not limited to rotating the image 54in ninety degree increments.

In the present embodiments, the portable electronic device 12 is basedon the computing environment and functionality of a wireless personaldigital assistant (PDA). It will be understood, however, that theportable electronic device 12 is not limited to wireless personaldigital assistants. Other portable electronic devices are possible, suchas smart telephones, and laptop computers.

All modifications and variations that may occur to those skilled in theart are believed to be within the sphere and scope of the presentembodiments.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A method performed by a device that includes aprocessor, a memory and a display, the method comprising: displaying animage on the display based on execution by the processor of a cameraapplication; receiving a first selection during the displaying, thefirst selection indicating an option to assign the image on the displayto a contact record stored in the memory; receiving a second selectionof a contact name that identifies the contact record; and associating,based on the second selection, at least a portion of the image with thecontact record identified by the contact name.
 22. The method of claim21, further comprising altering the image before the associating. 23.The method of claim 22, wherein the altering comprises at least one ofcropping, zooming, and rotating the image.
 24. The method of claim 23,wherein the altering comprises cropping, and the image is cropped basedon an adjustable crop area.
 25. The method of claim 24, wherein theadjustable crop area is a movable shape configured according to anaddress book application executed by the processor.
 26. The method ofclaim 21, further comprising storing the at least a portion of the imagewithin the contact record or in association with the contact record. 27.The method of claim 21, further comprising after the associating,displaying the contact record and the at least a portion of the imagebased on execution by the processor of an address book application or apersonal information manager application.
 28. A device comprising: aprocessor; and a memory storing instructions which, when executed by theprocessor, cause: displaying an image on the display based on executionby the processor of a camera application; receiving a first selectionduring the displaying, the first selection indicating an option toassign the image on the display to a contact record stored in thememory; receiving a second selection of a contact name that identifiesthe contact record; and associating, based on the second selection, atleast a portion of the image with the contact record identified by thecontact name.
 29. The device of claim 28, wherein the instructionsfurther cause altering the image before the associating.
 30. The deviceof claim 29, wherein the altering comprises at least one of cropping,zooming, and rotating the image.
 31. The device of claim 30, wherein thealtering comprises cropping, and the image is cropped based on anadjustable crop area.
 32. The device of claim 31, wherein the adjustablecrop area is a shape movable on the display, the adjustable crop areaconfigured according to an address book application executed by theprocessor.
 33. The device of claim 28, wherein the instructions furthercause storing the at least a portion of the image within the contactrecord or in association with the contact record.
 34. The device ofclaim 28, wherein the instructions further cause, after the associating,displaying the contact record and the at least a portion of the imagebased on execution by the processor of an address book application or apersonal information manager application.
 35. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed,cause a processor of a device to perform operations of: displaying animage on a display of the device based on execution by the processor ofa camera application; receiving a first selection during the displaying,the first selection indicating an option to assign the image on thedisplay to a contact record stored in a memory of the device; receivinga second selection of a contact name that identifies the contact record;and associating, based on the second selection, at least a portion ofthe image with the contact record identified by the contact name. 36.The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 35, wherein theinstructions further cause altering the image before the associating.37. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 36, wherein thealtering comprises at least one of cropping, zooming, and rotating theimage.
 38. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 37,wherein the altering comprises cropping, and the image on the display iscropped based on an adjustable crop area.
 39. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 38, wherein the adjustable crop areais a movable shape configured according to an address book applicationexecuted by the processor.
 40. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 35, wherein the instructions further cause storing theat least a portion of the image within the contact record or inassociation with the contact record.